| Kim, Jong-mi & Go, U-ri. “Phono-onomastics of Brand Names in Linguistically Diverse Countries.” Studies in English Language & Literature 49.2 (2023): 85-114. This study investigates the phono-onomastics of brand names in countries with diverse linguistic backgrounds and orthographies such as Korea, China, the United States, and Bangladesh. We propose that optimal brand names constitute easy and real English words containing five or fewer consonants, by analyzing 181 brand name pairs from online surveys of 870 participants in these countries. Our survey data comprise both hedonic (fashion and cosmetics industries) and utilitarian (grocery and restaurant industries) brand names. The survey results indicate that brand names with five or fewer consonants are consistently preferred across all countries, in addition to a preference for easy and real English words. Therefore, we conclude that brand names should have five or fewer consonants to meet the optimal unmarked syllable number of two and a possible additional light syllable. Additionally, we suggest that the country-of-origin effect does not hold. Instead, the observed discrepancies in brand name preference based on language are owing to the status of English as an international language as well as the differences in native and non-native speech between the original brand names in English and their adaptations in non-English-speaking countries. (Kangwon National University) |